


All The Things You Can See, And Those You Can't

by InkRanOut



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Multi-Fandom Valentine's (& St. Paddy's Day) Gift Exchange, Other, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-27 18:51:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18198008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkRanOut/pseuds/InkRanOut
Summary: A Grelliam oneshot for Multi-Fandom Valentine's (& St. Paddy's Day) Gift Exchange on tumblr!~Plot description: Due to an unfortunate turn of events, William finds himself spending Valentine's Day with the most troublesome shinigami of all.





	All The Things You Can See, And Those You Can't

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shinigami_Mistress (Southern_Breeze)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Southern_Breeze/gifts).



> Happy (belated) Valentine's Day, Shinigami_Mistress!  
> This is your gift! I hope you enjoy!~

"Good morning, Will, dear~"

At the sound of that voice, William turned around by instinct. His guard was up, now more than ever. His moves were almost too fast for the human eye to catch.

William had always been a careful person by nature, but there was one thing that made him react so quickly. Unpredictably even, at times.

Because that was, unmistakably, the voice of Grell Sutcliff. And with the voice always came the person, affairs with which never resulted in anything good for William.

He had only known the fellow shinigami for a few weeks now, and though their odd personality did have something to it that drew William in, almost fascinated him, he still knew better than to get close to Grell Sutcliff of all people.  
After all, he was a shinigami - a death god, yes, but even when he carried that fancy title and passed judgement on others, he didn't cease to be little more than another deceased person.  
For that reason, he wasn't interested in getting close to others, and he was aware that he wasn't there to do so, either. He never forgot his place.

"Grell Sutcliff." The words left behind a bitter taste in his mouth.

Were they here to harass him again? Of course they were– they had to be.  
After the previous day's incident, William had hoped that he would be granted a little bit of peace for once before the redhead continued to tease him.  
But it appeared that he had been very wrong. He now felt silly for ever hoping that Grell would leave him alone, even just for a few days.

He glared at the blurry, red figure. "Do you have business with me?" he muttered, wishing to be done with this quickly.

Grell squeezed their eyes shut and brought two loose fists to rest on their chest. "So mean! Will is always so mean to me!"  
Then, after relaxing their posture, "I suppose you're still mad for... what happened yesterday?"

William's glare deepened at those words and Grell pulled back a little, pausing. They spoke again, in a quieter voice this time: "Like I said... it was an accident! I never meant to step on William's glasses..."

William kept staring at the blurry figure of red and white, Grell's blood-colored hair and clothes and delicate, pale skin. Lines had faded completely and colors blended together.  
He couldn't see anything without his glasses, but he couldn't have them replaced immediately, either. It was Grell's fault that he had to work like this.  
How utterly annoying.

The previous day's anger fresh inside him once again, William decided he had already wasted enough time on Grell. Turning around, he began to walk away.  
Where he was going, he didn't really know -he had a very vague idea of where he was or what his surroundings were, so he mainly relied on luck- but he knew one thing for sure; he was getting away from a certain somebody, and that was something on its own.

"Li—sten~! Listen to me," Grell called out from behind him.  
William only paused for a moment before he continued to walk on the opposite direction of the one that Grell's voice came from.

The redhead caught up to him in the blink of an eye, without having to hurry, as William had no choice but to walk slowly and carefully. Red entered William's field of vision.

"Hey! It's rude to ignore a lady, you know!"  
No reply.  
"Come, come, don't be mad... My heart won't be able to take it... Hey! Just hear me out!"  
This time, William had to stop; Grell had moved in front of him, arms spread, blocking his way and momentarily disorienting him completely.  
"I'm not here to play around!" Grell said, not moving away even when William's eyes somehow found their way to theirs, that cold glare of his sending shivers down their spine.

Those didn't feel bad at all... The shivers, that is. They felt quite good.  
The harshness of this man felt quite good. Grell didn't hate being hated. Or they did. It was a bit complicated.

But even then, they certainly did not enjoy being ignored; that was of the worst. They wanted attention– preferably that of handsome men.

"I've come to make it up to you for yesterday. Don't look away– hey! I mean it!"

William sighed. "What are you planning, Grell Sutcliff?"

Grell blinked, dumbfounded. "Hu~uh? You want to know about my plans?"  
Their bemused expression gave way to a confident smile.  
"Well~ I was thinking, a stroll at... at the beach– or, no, wait! A café! It's already a bit late for morning coffee, but we can share a milkshake and feed each other cake. Or would you rather we have lunch first? Teehee~" Grell blushed. "Sorry, I'm making this up as we go. I didn't expect William to agree to go out together..."

Watching Grell go on and on about their ridiculous plans, William felt like he was about to burst a blood vessel.  
He placed two fingers on the bridge of his nose, trying to calm down his nerves.  
Not having his glasses on was so annoying. Making this conversation was so annoying.

"Grell Sutcliff."  
"Hm?"  
"I am greatly upset at the moment. Keeping your distance in case I get mad and careless... would be strongly advisable."  
Grell giggled. "I'm not afraid of William. But why are you so upset? Is it because I broke your glasses? You are still mad at me because of that?"  
William inhaled and exhaled, slowly. "I am not mad. I cannot see."

Of course he was mad. Not having his glasses was such a bother.  
On top of that, he didn't wear glasses back when he was alive, so he hadn't gotten very used to it yet. He was used to good eyesight.  
All this, it was just unnecessary trouble that he wouldn't have had to go through if it weren't for Grell Sutcliff.

"If that's why Will's so down today, how about I lend you my glasses?" Grell appeared to be serious about that proposal, though their tone was still that of someone who was flirting.  
"Pardon?"  
"Your eyesight wasn't bad before death, right? Neither was mine. I'm sure our current state is pretty similar!"

Wearing Grell Sutcliff's glasses... would be far from ideal.  
That flashy color, the unusual shape... the skulls hanging from the edges, decorating the frame in such a childish manner. If he was in his right mind, William T. Spears wouldn't even think of wearing something like that, ever.

...and that proved just how desperate he was, because after taking a moment to quietly curse his fate, William found himself reluctantly accepting the offer.

Grell had been right on the part about their eyesight being equally bad, though as it turned out, theirs was slightly worse. William could see everything quite well, but the glasses made his eyes hurt.  
It wasn't unbearable, so he was willing to ignore it for the time being. It was still better than being blind.

"Well then. I'll be going now," William said, adjusting the glasses with his finger.  
At the same time, he took a few steps forward, and judging by the way that Grell turned around towards him, and how their eyes moved around, they were searching for him.

Now that was a bit... well, not exactly sad -William found it was more than a little hard to feel bad for the troublesome redhead- but it did make him feel kind of strange.

Once they thought they spotted him, Grell grinned. "O~kay! Glad I helped!" They prepared their lips for a kiss, mostly teasing.  
Not that they would have said no to one, of course.

"I'm here," William's voice came from behind them, and Grell jumped.

So they really couldn't see anything. Seeing them so vulnerable proved oddly amusing.  
Whenever Grell allowed themselves to be like this, it was always on purpose. It felt nice for William to actually be in control for once, instead of being fully aware that he is playing their game.

William couldn't help but smirk at that reaction. "Grell Sutcliff, are you... scared?"  
Grell smiled nervously. "No way. I'm not used to being half-blind, you know?"  
William noted how they still seemed kind of jumpy.  
"Is it okay to leave you alone like this, I wonder..." he whispered, as he found himself leaning closer...

What was going on?  
William truly didn't know what had gotten over him. All he knew was that he was enjoying this situation, probably a little too much.

The way Grell jumped at his touch. The way they obediently relaxed in his grip a moment after.

Perhaps he was only doing what Grell wanted of him, perhaps he was falling right into a trap. He knew that, and yet... he wanted to see more of this new side of Grell that he was only discovering now for the first time.  
Shy, helpless... almost cute.

No, that was way too strong a word. William banished it from his mind.  
Just then, he realized that he had tightened his grip on Grell's shoulder, and they were staring at him expectantly - though still not quite in the eye.

"Since I clearly can't let you roam around in your state, we might as well enjoy ourselves a little."

Grell blinked. "William is... You're going to enjoy yourself? But I thought your whole afterlife was about work?"

William glared, then remembered it had no effect on a nearly blind Grell. "I do not recall asking for your opinion."

And then, as if for a grand finale, he lifted the redhead in his arms, bridal style.

Grell didn't know if they had ever felt this excited before. Going through memories of two lifetimes, they figured they hadn't.

William's bossy personality was already attractive, but it was so much better when they were the one being bossed around.  
All that attention made their heart race. It had been so long since they'd played around like this. So long since somebody was willing to join in, instead of just ignoring them.

"So~" Grell wrapped their arms around the back of William's neck, who didn't bother to hide his displeasure. Though that did nothing to unnerve Grell, who not only could not see the other's reaction, but even if they could, they would only become more excited. "Where are we going?"

William wanted to turn back now, he really did. But at the same time, he didn't want to let go of this chance.  
Could it be that he... liked Grell Sutcliff?  
No, no way. But then, was he simply enjoying dominating them?

Well, he couldn't deny that he didn't hate being in control over the redhead for once. Of course, Grell had always been ready to offer themselves to him, but it was never like this.  
What was it that made this one time so different, anyway?  
Was it because Grell was truly vulnerable in their current state, robbed of their eyesight and quick reflexes?  
Or had William fallen so deep into their trap that he ended up being the one that was truly blind?

Either way, it didn't matter at the time. Clearly, there was no going back.

\---

Grell giggled. "You made it sound so hot and all, but... looks like William is just another softie~"

Sitting across from the redhead in a crowded cafeteria filled with couples feeding each other strawberry tarts, William couldn't exactly argue.

Apparently it was today, the day that humans, for no particular reason, celebrated their romantic relationships. Grell couldn't believe their luck, meanwhile William had began wondering whether this was all part of a test.  
Surely, the universe must have been testing him.

"William, say aah~"

The shinigami had long since been lost in his thoughts to think about what he had just been told.  
Looking out the window, he allowed his mouth to fall open without thinking much about it.

Grell was surprised to not be met with stubbornness, but wouldn't miss the chance to feed William over an unexpected reaction.  
Thankfully, they managed to successfully guide the spoonful of ice cream to the other's mouth, even without their glasses on.  
It was mostly easy to locate since Grell's glasses really stood out on William's face, and knowing where the eyes were helped a lot in finding the mouth.

Grell had always been quick to adapt, and even more so now that they were a shinigami with no cares or concern for anything.  
If it was for William, they were willing to even get used to living like this for a while.

William chewed the piece of dessert he'd been offered and swallowed, all in that same apathy.  
Like a sudden intrusion, his serious thoughts were interrupted by a new one; 'outstanding'.  
The dessert. It was delicious. William's gaze travelled to meet Grell's, subconsciously asking for more.  
Grell understood immediately, and was more than happy to comply.

William was now aware of the situation, being fed by Grell. He chose to remain quiet the whole time, all while reminding himself how much he is going to regret this sometime in the near future.  
Perhaps once he had his glasses back, and didn't feel indebted to Grell Sutcliff anymore.

That thought brought about a new one; certainly, he wouldn't have to repay them... would he?  
They were the one who had caused him to be like this in the first place.  
He didn't even care about Grell's wellbeing. So why did he feel guilty for being the one responsible for the other's current situation?  
It really made no sense. Grell Sutcliff made no sense, but now he could tell that neither did he.  
Perhaps it was contagious.

Grell usually looked at him in the eye when they spoke. Now, William could tell that they had trouble spotting his eyes to look directly into them.  
But seeing them so vulnerable... was a bit amusing. So unlike anything Grell had showed him up until that day.  
They were... ah, what was the word...  
Cute. The redhead was kind of cute.  
For the first time that day, William allowed himself to admit it silently.

All those thoughts were overwhelming. As if the world was turning upside down.  
Grell had broken his glasses. He had had a very good reason to be mad at them.  
And now he didn't.  
Even worse, he had somehow ended up out on an actual date with them. And he didn't even have a reason to be mad anymore. And just now he had... thought of them as cute...  
That was bad. Whatever was he going to do?

"What... are you doing?" William heard his own voice cut through the silence.  
While William was spacing out, Grell had somehow ended up sitting next to him, and were now making themselves comfortable on his shoulder.  
"Last night, Ronnie and I stayed up all night working. I didn't even get my beauty sleep..." Grell rubbed their head on the other's shoulder.  
"This..." William's jaw was clenched. "This is not ideal."  
"What, you won't lend me your shoulder for a sec?"  
Grell's tone was their usual, flirty one, but for some reason it didn't make William mad or irritated like it normally would.  
Quietly, he muttered, "Fine."

William sensed a surprised reaction from Grell, though they didn't say anything - perhaps afraid of losing this privilege they'd been granted.  
The café was noisy, and yet everything was silent now. Both of them had stopped hearing the sounds and voices around them.  
It was... so peaceful.  
Neither of them had felt this peace before, not as humans and not as shinigami. It was really something else.

Feeling peace... with Grell Sutcliff, of all people, leaning on his shoulder...  
Still being aware of those childish things hanging from the frame of Grell's glasses, now on his own face...  
The whole thing felt unreal. But not terrible.

Once this was over, William was going to return the glasses to Grell Sutcliff. Make them promise to forget this whole thing ever happened.  
Soon he would have his own glasses, and no trace of this ever happening would be left.

Surely, that was for the best. Shinigami were but workers, paying for their sins. They weren't supposed to have this kind of relationships in the first place.  
William had always been what one would call a 'model shinigami'. He couldn't allow himself to fall low enough to dream of finding happiness with a fellow shinigami.  
And even if he did, that shinigami just couldn't be Grell Sutcliff, that was... absolutely ridiculous.  
And yet...

Oh. They fell asleep.  
William looked down. Grell's eyes were closed, red hair falling on their face, and their chest was slowly going up and down with each breath.  
Their permanent smirk was gone, replaced by a calm expression.

Damn it...  
William leaned, let his head rest on Grell's.  
Tomorrow. Tomorrow, he was going to end this.  
Still, he wanted to live this moment properly...

**Author's Note:**

> That's what I came up with for your gift! I hope it was to your liking!~ ^^


End file.
